Hidden Encodings The Prophecy
by MafiaPrinceza
Summary: The Royal Scribe of the 18th dynasty makes her way amongst the Pharaoh's court, completely unaware that her very soul is in the gamble of past, present, and future...
1. Vision of the Tauk

Dear Reader,  
Thank you for being interested in my fanfic. It is loosely based upon the real "Ancient Egypt Arc" in Yu-Gi-Oh! though the story of Bernarda Nefertina begins a few months before the events of the manga and/or animé. There are a few differences: Tea, Tristan and Joey actually have pasts in Kehmet (or Ancient Egypt) and I still have to decide whether to bring in people from the present or not. My story was originally written in a format like my "Madness of the Magicians" fanfic, only I felt that it needed some description to it so I re-did the first three chapters and am continuing this story as the ideas in my mind take form. It is my first attempt at a serious fanfic with a real plot and all, so there might be some confusions within the first few chapters though I can guarantee you that it shall get better as it goes on. Not all of the characters in "Hidden Encodings: The Prophecy" exist in the real Yu-Gi-Oh! world, but it's a fanfic, so please contribute your opinion(s) to my writings!  
Arigato!  
Gala  
  
Disclaimer: Obviously enough, I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! Or any of the characters that are originally meant to be in it. However, it was my evil, twisted mind that created Bernarda Nefertina, the Royal Scribe of Ancient Egypt who happens to love tormenting her hikari. And they BOTH own the Millennium Book. Yet I do not own Teanna's stinking cattle because friendship speeches are not the point of this story! Clear enough? Good!  
  
PROLOGUE ENCODINGS OF LIFE  
  
"Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it. And those who pay too much attention to history are destined to be repeated in it."  
Whether that is the key to the prophecy of life or not, Bernarda Nefertina did not know. Having read them at an early age, they seemed to be embossed within her very thoughts. She also never knew why she was the wielder of the Millennium Book either, not the reasoning behind her being the only female scribe in her generation. It all seemed a little odd to her, a mere teenage girl of fifteen being able to sit in the Pharaoh's court and keep track of the events of time. Most people would give their lives to serve the Pharaoh and Priests in such a manner, and Bernarda would get a shiver up her spine whenever she tried to figure out why promotions came so easily to her. Little did she know that being related to the creator of the Millennium Items, her very soul was in the gamble of past, present and future...  
  
CHAPTER 1 VISION OF THE TAUK  
  
Shading her eyes from the hot Egyptian sun, Bernarda Nefertina sits down on the banks of the Nile River, feeling rather down after just having a stressful argument with the High Priest, just like every other day in her life. As if in a world of her own, she brushes a strand of brown hair out of her face and begins to take off her sandals, taking an unusually long time to play with the leathery fastenings. Done with the sandals, she puts them aside along with her peacock quill and Millennium Book, the sennen item which she carried everywhere with her.  
  
"Why, or why does Pharaoh Atemu trust that High Priest?" she wonders aloud, as if nobody else in all of Egypt would even bother to take a look at a fifteen-year-old girl sitting by the Nile talking to herself. "And is he just called the High Priest because he is taller than me?" She shrugs, still not being able to figure out why he was a decent head and a half taller than her even if he was only four years older. Then again, Bernarda Nefertina did take a little pride in being taller than the Pharaoh, which was sort of silly because half of his subjects had that honor in the first place.  
  
Staring at the cloudless sky, watching as the sun makes its way towards the west bank of the Nile, Bernarda suddenly sees a peasant girl with cattle approaching and she rolls her eyes. Teanna was the last person she wanted to talk to at a moment like this, a friendship speech really did not fit her moods in the slightest.  
  
Teanna comes to the banks of Nile with her cattle and looks at Bernarda, her blue eyes staring into Bernarda's hazel ones in a quite annoying manner. "May you should get to know that High Priest better, be friends after all since you are both in the Pharaoh's service," she suggests with a smile, being her usual self.  
  
That was the last thing Bernarda wanted to hear, as if having to co-operate with the priests every single day and write down every single thing they said was bad enough, yet being friends was totally out of the question! Bernarda raises an eyebrow quizzically and looks back at Teanna. "You have to be fooling me! First of all, priests and scribes do not get along together, Ra made it so," she replies in a rather annoyed tone, hoping that using the Sun God would be a decent enough excuse to get Teanna to leave her alone and give her some time to think.  
  
"And Ra made friendship!" Teanna replies happily, obviously not seeing the scribe's point.  
  
"You just happen to be Ra's personal messenger so you are ALWAYS right, right?" Bernarda interrupts before Teanna could even say something about Ra and friendship. "Do you know what I really think about all this?"  
  
"Friendship!" Teanna exclaims happily, petting one of her cattle.  
  
Bernarda Nefertina just wrinkles her delicate nose, those cattle had the most putrid odor, and the scribe was ready to bet all of the gold coins in her purse that Teanna had not given those cattle of hers a decent wash in years. "If you were actually one of Ra's messengers, you would be related to the Pharaoh. Isn't that just a little obvious?" she asks, deciding to give Teanna a piece of her own mind after all.  
  
"I am, but you're not!" Teanna says, posing so that she catches the sun in a certain angle, as if to prove just how much she was related to Ra.  
  
"Those who pretend to be wise are just more foolish then they seem," Bernarda answers calmly, "That may apply to both yourself and that High Priest." She then picks up her Millennium Book and peacock quill, scribbling down a couple of hieroglyphics into it just for the sake of safekeeping her thoughts.  
  
Not even being able to read but still being the nosy peasant girl that she was, Teanna leans over Bernarda's shoulder and looks at the rows of complex hieroglyphics written on the papyrus of the Millennium Book. "Is that a poem about friendship?" she blurts out.  
  
"Look at me," Bernarda says, closing the Millennium Book for now. "Just look at me. Do I look like your twin sister or something so I give a damn about friendship? No! I understand helping people out and being the best person I can be so that I may get a ride to the afterlife someday, but writing poems about friendship in books for royal documentaries honestly does not help anyone out in any way at all!"  
  
Teanna looks at the closed Millennium Book with very confused eyes, her pea- sized brain probably not being able to comprehend the world any further than friendship and cattle herding.  
  
"Why am I kept at Pharaoh Atemu's court in the first place?" Bernarda asks Teanna, not giving up to a cattle herder so easily. "I am the royal scribe, not a smelly cattle herder. And since you decided to ruin my day, why doesn't the High Priest join us to make it even more complete?" As if she knew what was coming, or perhaps just not being able to control her fury any longer, she bends down and picks up a handful of mud from the Nile, squishing it between her palms as if she had every intention to throw it at someone.  
  
Little did the scribe know that she should be careful for what she wished for, and Priest Seth walks right up to Teanna and Bernarda, almost as if somebody had called for him. "Was somebody requiring my presence here?" he asks, twirling the Millennium Rod between his fingertips.  
  
Bernarda simply pretended not to notice him, yet Teanna decided to take a different approach. "Honorable one," she says with a bow, "tell me, when shall my cattle have their young this moon?"  
  
Upon hearing this, Bernarda chuckles, Teanna was speaking of cattle having young as if they were werewolves or something! /I'm not bowing before him/ she thinks to herself, giving the High Priest and nasty glare. /He is not the Pharaoh/ Refusing to wait any longer, she drops the mud ball, making it land right on the High Priest's sandals.  
  
Hearing a splat and suddenly feeling wet sand upon his toes, Seth looks down at his sandals and sees his toes completely covered in mud. "Someone shall be in big trouble for this," he says with a shake of his head.  
  
"In big trouble for not following friendship!" Teanna adds happily, deciding to agree with Seth for no apparent reason.  
  
"I never recalled Pharaoh Atemu making a law prohibiting the use of our river's bounty to benefit the people," Bernarda points out, after all, she was only defending herself.  
  
"And how exactly might this act of mud-throwing benefit me?" Seth questions.  
  
"Simple," Teanna replies, not noticing that both the Hight Priest and Royal Scribe were looking at her like she had more than just issues. "Mud is frienship!" Upon saying that, she begins to take handful after handful of mud from the Nile and coats her cattle with it.  
  
"Well... that shall never be remembered in history!" Bernarda replies, noticing that Seth's expression to Teanna's friendship outburst was just as confused as her own.  
  
"Why not?" Teanna wonders.  
  
"It shall not be written so none shall see," Bernarda says coldly, seeing that Teanna still would not understand. "And I see that the High Priest is still in his ceremonial robes." She grins mischievously, an idea popping up into her head.  
  
Seth returns her mischievous grin, "And the 'Royal' Scribe still has not taken off her jewelry."  
  
"And my cattle are my friends!" Teanna says with a smile from ear to ear, hugging her stinking cattle, which were now all coated in mud.  
  
"Yes Seth," Bernarda counters, fiddling with her golden bracelets. "I wear jewelry for other reasons besides looking pretty when I'm sitting there writing down every single word you priests and Pharaohs have to say. Yet such a thought would have never occurred to you, would it?"  
  
"No," Seth says with an evil smirk, swiftly picking up a mud ball from the Nile and throwing it at Bernarda.  
  
The mud ball flies through the air and lands on Bernarda's right shoulder, staining her robes. "You want trouble from me?" she asks, trying to the mud off. "Sure, better off for me!" Upon saying that, she stubbornly sits down on the banks of the Nile River once more and starts writing in the Millennium Book about rebellious High Priests traumatizing the Pharaoh's subjects. /Wait until Atemu sees my afternoon's report about the Nile!/  
  
"Oooooh!" Teanna comments, noticing the giant stain on Bernarda Nefertina's robe. "Now you can look like one of my adorable cattle!" She takes some more mud from the Nile and smears it on her cattle, believing that they produce more milk when they are covered with mud.  
  
Observing Teanna coat her cattle, Seth simply shakes his head in dismay. This peasant girl was obviously a disgrace to the entire country; he just had to get her out of his sight before he lost his temper. "Will you leave us alone so that I can deal with the scribe without the scent of cattle wafting up my nose?" he asks with a sigh, hoping that Teanna would go away.  
  
"Yes, that would be most appreciated," Bernarda adds to Seth's words, not even bothering to look up from what she was writing in the Millennium Book. "Take this as a token of friendship!" She smears a speck of mud on one of the cattle, just to give Teanna the impression that she was doing the right thing. "Now leave us alone."  
  
"Very well," Teanna says with a smile. "You understand friendship so you are worthy of respect. Just be friends and everyone shall love you! Isn't that right?" she asks her cattle, gathering them up and walking away.  
  
/Ha! Ha! Ha!/ Bernarda thinks to herself the moment Teanna turned around to leave. /Not even the High Priest has mastered the art of bribery as well as I have!/  
  
"Now will you stop writing in that bloody book?" Seth demands. "The past shall not be forgotten without your writings, the gods have told me all there is to know."  
  
"And with a mortal's mind you can hold onto it for eternity?" Bernarda sneers, "I doubt it. But you shall be quite infamous in the far future, I have been told so."  
  
"And a scribe speaks up the future? Who are you bluffing?" Seth asks her.  
  
"Take a look and see," the scribe replies in her most non-chalant tone, opening up the Millennium Book to show the High Priest exactly what she was talking about...  
  
The Pharaoh was sitting in his throne, fiddling with his blond bangs and the throne room was all empty except for the Priestess Isis and the Royal Scribe. Isis appeared to be in a world of her own, not even bothering to know what was going on around her and Bernarda was busy looking over the notes she had taken in her Millennium Book over the ritual which the priests had just completed the other day.  
  
"Priestess Isis," the Pharaoh said with a slightly stern voice, "I regret to tell you this but I fear that the Millennium Items shall not end this peril amongst us but only delay it."  
  
"Honored one, what do you mean?" the priestess replies, bowing down upon the floor, making sure to place her left leg in front of her right one for only the son of Ra was permitted to place his right one forwards. She gulps nervously, afraid that this would be another occasion where Pharaoh Atemu was overly worried about the Millennium Items being dysfunctional just because of a vision which one of the other priests had at odd hours in the night.  
  
"The son of Ra wishes to show you that history shall repeat itself," Bernarda observes, closing her Millennium Book with a slight thud as the pages of papyrus rubbed against one another.  
  
"Not mistaken, but delayed," Pharaoh Atemu corrects the girl, doing his best to hide that he was slightly displeased with her interruption of this conversation; yet he would make efficient use of it when the time came to it.  
  
"With my Millennium Tauk I have been granted the gift of seeing what is to come. The course of time is being delayed and I do not see," Isis objects, attempting to prove that if she could not see it, it would not happen.  
  
"You do not see, yet others might. Only Ra knows all," Bernarda contradicts, partially quoting her scriptures yet making her own point in the process.  
  
"But an end to this threat must be put! Did not my Uncle create these items to help the land of Ra? And with robbers and thieves looting villages and robbers raiding pyramids, what help have they brought? If the priests have failed me, who do I look to?"  
  
"My lord," the priestess says with quivering lips, "Who else may serve you as loyally as the priests? The slaves revolt, the merchants cheat, the farmers fail to tend their fields and the nobles quarrel. Who do you look to in hard times besides us?"  
  
"The scribes," Bernarda answers simply. "Where else would the logic about a subject who is not a priest receiving a sacred item?" She bows her head, expecting a rash punishment for what she had just said.  
  
"They still have to prove their worth in my rein," Atemu tells Nefertina calmly. "My father thought highly of them, yet the reputation of scribes has been known to change during the ages. Perhaps the moment for that has come. Isis!"  
  
"Yes milord?" she looks up with her deep blue eyes.  
  
"Give me your Millennium Item," the Pharaoh holds out his hand for her to hand over the Tauk.  
  
Hesistantly, Isis unfastens the Tauk from her neck and hands it over. "If that is what you wish for."  
  
"What are you planning upon?" Bernarda wonders with confusion.  
  
"You shall see, see within time," Atemu tells her, taking the Tauk from Isis and placing it upon Bernarda's neck.  
  
"No! Milord, you cannot! The power of my item shall diminish this way!" Isis resists, giving Bernarda a sharp glance as if to say 'You'll pay for this one day'.  
  
"Silence! This is an order! I must know what shall come to pass!" Pharaoh Atemu demands, holding up his hand as if to quiet Isis.  
  
Bernarda's mind begins to grow rather fuzzy as the warm gold of the necklace touches her body. "The High Priest... shall...," she mutters, clouds swirling within her hazel eyes as if she was possessed by a greater being, "rivalry... two pharaohs... past and future... unite... items bring... ultimate de-... chaos!" Her voice gets raspier and raspier as her mind spins within and her vision clouds, resulting in darkness surrounding her as she falls to the floor.  
  
Isis tries to wipe the grin off her face, the Royal Scribe was apparently a complete failure when it came to work where writing was not involved. "I knew that she could not wield the power of the Millennium Tauk!"  
  
Atemu remains quiet, walking up the fainted scribe and removing the Tauk from her neck. He then walks over to the priestess and hands it back to her. "Whatever she saw," he begins, not sure whether Isis should hear all he had to say, "She was under a heavy trance; as if controlled by another spirit. Yet why did she speak of two pharaohs? And what of the High Priest?" He shrugs his shoulders, his royal blue cape swirling with the motion.  
  
"The necklace probably overwhelmed Bernarda," Isis offers. "Items of mystery are not her place."  
  
"But would you get the same response from the Millennium Book in that case? That is the question!" Atemu responds, crossing his arms and motioning for his attendants to get Bernarda back into the light again.  
  
"But how did this history end up in the Millennium Book and who placed it in there?" Seth wonders, noticing that the golden hieroglyphics upon the eerie black papyrus of the book were not written by Bernarda's hand.  
  
"I have been questioning the very same thing, Seth-sama. When I woke up after that trance, I was on the floor of my chamber and the Millennium Book was nowhere in sight.  
  
"Then however did you get it back? The book is rightfully yours for all that I know. Akunadin-sama holds the eye, Shadah holds the ankh, Karim the scales, Isis the tauk, Mahado the ring, Pharaoh Atemu the Puzzle and I the rod. It could not have been any of us who have done it for the law currently states that a person shall own only one item at a given time!" Seth replies with certainty in his tone.  
  
Bernarda considers this for a moment and wonders whether it could all be misleading. After all, ambitious plots were not exactly uncommon in the Pharaoh's palace. "All the more of making it suspicious, High Priest. If I was granted the foresight of Priestess Isis' tauk, then could another wielder of a Millennium Item not have recorded a story of the ages in the book?"  
  
Seth's keen blue eyes look at the inscriptions within the Millennium book a bit deeper, as if he was trying to decipher some sort of hidden code. "These are not standard hieroglyphics, nor hieractic or demotic. How can we read something which we cannot translate?"  
  
Bernarda simply shrugs her shoulders, not knowing the answer herself. "The only logical conclusion is that solely the wielders of Millennium Items can understand the writings of this book. Teanna was unable to read it, yet we all know the education of farmer's daughters..."  
  
"As for your relation to the Millennium book," Seth urges the scribe on.  
  
"That is the confusing part," Bernarda admits, "I have had an uncanny skill at reading scriptures and always understanding what was written. Sure enough, being trained as a scribe I can comprehend things easily if written in our tongue, yet what if the tongue is foreign to all of Kehmet? How can I understand it then?"  
  
"It could be within your blood," the High Priest suggests. "Priest Karim is the only one I know of who can use the scales properly, and the sole person who did it before him was his father."  
  
"Yet that brings up another question," the brown-eyed girl says, "If the Millennium Items were passed down from parent to off-spring, who did I originate from and why is the book within my hands?"  
  
"Ra has made us all, and things happen because the Gods will it," Seth replies in his most regal tone, doing everything he could to restrain himself from telling Bernarda the real truth. /One day she shall have to know, yet how do I tell her without destroying her in the process? Or shall she bring it about in her own ways?/  
  
"You think that I would not have known that living amongst the Pharaoh's nobility and priesthood all my life?" Bernarda asks quizzically. She takes her sandals and puts them on her feet again. "I'm off to find one of the other Millennium Item wielders. Perhaps they can better explain this all to me. Care to come?"  
  
"Suit yourself. This is your own journey," Seth replies as the Royal Scribe walks away, her long brown hair glistening under Ra's light. /If only she knew how she really got that position, and why. Then she would understand my own ordeal better. With such a heritage as she has, she could bring both chaos and tranquility upon Kehmet at the same time./ With a sigh, he scrapes the mud off his own footwear which Bernarda had so generously piled upon it, puts the sandals on and leaves in the opposite direction to the one which the scribe had set off to.  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: I apologize once more if my writing is hard to read, my head is chock-full of plot bunnies and other fuzz... Better go and clean it out! ( 


	2. Altered Inscriptions

CHAPTER 2 ALTERED INSCRIPTIONS  
  
"Pharaoh Atemu? Priest Shadah? Priestess Isis? Anybody here?" Bernarda's voice echoes nervously off the walls of the royal palace as she runs through the empty halls.  
  
"Scribe! Thank goodness I found you," somebody says as he chases after Bernarda down a hallway.  
  
Bernarda turns around upon hearing somebody refer to her by her position and sees a male a couple of years older than her and realizes that it was Joseph, one of the guards. "Yes, what's all the hurry about?" she inquires.  
  
"Quick! Your presence is required down at the pyramids!" Joseph exclaims, hoping to get the girl to her senses as soon as possible.  
  
"Why?" Bernarda counters, looking rather confused. "And where is everybody else?"  
  
"Down at the pyramids," Joseph urges, grabbing Bernarda by her hand and rushing her down the hallway. "Nobody told me why except that the presence of a scribe is required! I'm guessing that they found something on the walls and nobody can figure out what it means!"  
  
"I thought that the priests knew basic hieroglyphics!" Bernarda sighs, seeing that she might end up doing the priests' work again just because of them claiming to not know what they actually did.  
  
"Yeah, you're right," Joey admits. "That is why they all ran down to that pyramid, Pharaoh Atemu himself included. But they are still unable to decipher it, even with their Millennium Items."  
  
Bernarda stares at her Millennium Book quietly with her hazel eyes, now starting to figure why she was the one who they were asking to come. "All right, all right, I'm going! Yet I have the feeling that there's more to the story than you say," she replies with an exasperated sigh, closing one of the many side doors of the palace as she follows Joseph.  
  
"I never told you the whole story!" Joseph says with a wink, though Bernarda decided it was best to ignore that. "Pharaoh Atemu requires your presence down in the pyramids so you'd better hurry!"  
  
"Whole story? You've already told me that," Bernarda says in a dry voice that showed that he'd done his fair share of irritation for the day. She fiddles with the saddle of her horse and climbs onto it. "Whatever you say, just guard the palace well in the Pharaoh's absence. Without anybody here, it gives the enemy a chance of invading."  
  
"I am a guard," he replies, holding up his spear. "It is my duty to protect this place."  
  
"Very well, I shall go to the pyramids and see why I'm required..." Rolling her eyes, Bernarda gives her horse a kick and leaves off.  
  
At the Pyramids  
  
"Scribe! What's taken you so long?" Pharaoh Atemu demands, seeing Bernarda pull her horse into a halt.  
  
"Forgive me," the scribe replies, jumping off her horse and typing up the reins so the animal would not run away loose. "I was talking to the High Priest about the vision I had with the Millennium Tauk. He wants further insight on it, yet the Tauk shall destroy me if I wear it again," she then continues despite the quizzical look on Priestess Isis' face the moment the Tauk was brought up. "And speaking about the High Priest, where in the name of Ra is he? Joseph told me that all of the Millennium Item holders came here yet he is nowhere in sight!"  
  
"I have not seen him since that banquet held in honor of Anubis last night. Yet I do not wish him to see what is down in the pyramid, it might disturb him," Akunadin says, having a secret within him as usual.  
  
"And it won't disturb the others?" Priestess Isis inquires in a skeptical tone.  
  
"It might, yet Seth would overreact too much knowing his mature and I have no interest in seeing such a thing," Atemu adds.  
  
"It wouldn't surpass me," Bernarda says with a sigh. "I already witnessed it this morning and am ready for anything, Let's hurry up before Ra makes his journey to the West banks of the Nile, it's dreary enough down there when Ra still shines." A shiver running up her spine, she looks at the priests nervously.  
  
"I would not be doubting the powers of the way to the afterlife if I were you," Isis warns her, going on into a little speech about mummification, scarabs, rituals and lots of other matters that Bernarda was not too interested in.  
  
"So who gives if my soul was put against Maat's mythical feather of truth?" Bernarda interrupts, having enough of the priestess.  
  
"I would," Karim whispers, flashing his scales infront of Bernarda, causing the young scripe to gulp and stay quiet for a while.  
  
"Enough of this pointless bickering and denial! Follow me down into the pyramid so that you can assist me in solving this mystery," the Pharaoh orders his priests, priestess and scribe.  
  
"Be careful, it is said that powerful spirits control these paths and those who disturb them shall never see light again," Isis says behind Bernarda's right ear.  
  
"Said yet not written," Bernarda retorts with a slightly hot-headed edge. "Besides, I'm not really that interested in seeing the Soulless Realm again!"  
  
"Neither am I," Mahado agrees, remembering all too well what happened last harvest season when Kas of bunch of slaves revolted.  
  
"But we managed to solve it," Shadah points out, to which most of the other priests either nodded or simply stayed quiet. Pharaoh Atemu continued to lead the way while Bernarda takes out her Millennium Book and starts to write down something about a rebellious priestess falling into hidden pits infected by crocodiles, her eyes turning cloudy as she did so. Hopefully nobody would notice what she was trying to do and use his or her own items against her wish.  
  
"Isis, stick close to me and keep quiet," Akunadin says, having enough of the priestess bothering the scribe to endless means. "Speaking falsely about members of the Pharaoh's court is not a wise idea."  
  
/Thank you, Akunadin. I owe you,/ Bernarda thinks to herself as she continues writing, if Isis saw what she was doing she'd be in her fair share of troubles.  
  
"Oh Pharaoh!" Isis calls to Atemu, her voice echoing loudly off the walls in the pyramid. "How long shall it be until we reach this 'magical mystical thing that you found'?"  
  
"The more you complain the longer it shall take," Mahado says with a smirk. /And I thought that Mana was the impatient one! As a priestess Isis should have a bit more sense than to talk like that!/  
  
"Keep walking, we'll get there soon enough!" Atemu says, wondering why it was always the females.  
  
"But my feet hurt and my new sandals shall be ruined!" Isis whines, adjusting the golden straps and then going back to her complaining.  
  
Bernarda rolls her eyes, deciding that adding Isis' sandals to the pit of crocodiles might not be such a bad idea after all. An evil smirk goes up her face, rather uncharacteristic of her usual nature and her eyes get even cloudier.  
  
"Isis, I warned you to keep quiet," Akunadin tells her irritably  
  
"Why do I have the feeling that someone shall betray me right on the spot?" Isis wonders, backing straight to the wall of the tunnel and trying not to be seen by anyone.  
  
"It's your imagination," Karim exclaims, not wanting to worry her further by examining it with his scales. Sometimes she could be more than just a girl, especially when she wanted to.  
  
/Imagination can be reality!/ Bernarda thinks to herself, closing her Millennium Book after putting the last hieroglyphic on the papyrus page.  
  
"Does anybody have the feeling that we are being followed?" Shadah wonders as he looks behind his shoulder as he hears the sound of footsteps in the backround.  
  
"Yes, hopefully it isn't another slave revolt. That's the last thing we need at this hour," Mahado adds, looking at his ring and seeing that it wasn't flashing so there was no darkness nearby that he knew of.  
  
"We're almost there!" Atemu says, taking the tunnel to the right amongst the three that were in front of him.  
  
"Thank Ra!" Isis exclaims. "My poor new sandals are almost ruined!"  
  
"Maintain yourself just a while longer and I shall consider buying you new ones, fair enough?" Karim offers.  
  
"There it is!" Bernarda suddenly blurts out, seeing a wall filled with inscriptions. She sprints up to it as quickly as she could, taking a careful look at the wall and then remembering something about it. "It looks familiar," she says, though mostly to herself.  
  
"Yes, it is the wall that the High Priest Seth created two years ago. But Terras the guard claimed that he saw an explosion down here this very morning, which is why I though we should see what is going on," Atemu says, squinting his violet eyes to see the wall better in the half-darkness.  
  
"Shouldn't the palace architect have some information on it?" Mahado wonders, making himself a mental note to go and ask the moment they returned to the palace. After all, he was the person who designed this pyramid in the first place.  
  
"Seth wrote these hieroglyphics, did he not?" Isis wonders, running her hand above the symbols. "So why are they unreadable if we can all read the regular ones?  
  
"These are not regular hieroglyphics, and I do not recall Seth knowing how to do them either," Akunadin explains. "which is why a scribe was sent down here; preferably the one with the eight Millennium Item so that we'd have some input on the matter through our own items."  
  
"Is there any way in which you can make them out?" Karim asks Bernarda.  
  
"No she can't! This is a disgrace!" Isis interrupts, showing her way between Bernarda and Karim to cut off their conversation. "This wall was created by one of the priests so it is not her place to be connected to it in any possible way."  
  
"Priestess, are you trying to defy me?" Atemu wonders, looking at Isis with annoyance.  
  
"No milord," Isis replies quietly, looking at her feet.  
  
"Then stay put and keep quiet until I grant you permission to speak," Atemu adds. "Now Priest Karim, please continue."  
  
"Is there any possible way in which the eighth Millennium Item can be of use to translating these hieroglyphics?" he asks Bernarda once more, causing the royal scribe to look at the walls again.  
  
"And if this relates to any previous experience of yours, Bernarda, you must say so for your own good," Mahado says, taking a good look at the writings himself.  
  
With a nervous hand and a clink from her golden bracelets, Bernarda runs it along the walls, trying to fell the carvings done on them. "These hieroglyphics appear to be crossed with some odd script which I have not seen before... I cannot decipher it now but..."  
  
"I knew it! I knew she was useless!" Priestess Isis exclaims out loud.  
  
"Silence!" Pharaoh Atemu exclaims, wanting the job to get done so that he could go back to the palace and bring an end to this scenario. "Nobody shall leave until the writing is deciphered. You may continue, my Royal Scribe."  
  
"Well... if these writings are copied down in the Millennium Book, I suppose that their translations might appear," Bernarda says timidly, hoping that it shall work if she tried to.  
  
"Then do so at my command, and the command of my priests," Atemu orders her.  
  
"But milord, she shall destroy all the sacred rituals built into that writing! She is a threat!" Isis yelps, trying to do anything to stop Bernarda.  
  
"And I thought it was the sandals you cared about!" Mahado says with a laugh. "No, there are much more important things apparently."  
  
"I'd better get to work translating this – it might take a while," Bernarda says as she pulls her peacock feather quill from her rope-like belt and opens her book to a fresh sheet of papyrus, secretly activating the previous one with the description of Isis and the pit of crocodiles. With an innocent face and possessed eyes, she starts to copy down what was on the walls.  
  
"Strange, this wall is not made of the mud and stone that we usually use," Isis observes, as she looks at the wall one more time. She brings her hand to the wall and touches it, only for a trapdoor to open beneath her feet. "ARGHHHHH!" she screams loudly and falls down into the shadows.  
  
Shadah runs up to the edges of the trap hole, looking down into it but not being able to see anything at all. "Some hidden power is up to no good here."  
  
"Isis did say something about curses and spells roaming these places," Akunadin adds with a very subtle nod to Bernarda, causing his Millennium Eye to glow for a brief moment.  
  
"ISIS!" Pharaoh Atemu exclaims, placing his hands on his head. "Is there any possible way of bringing her back? Call the High Priest! Fetch him here at once! Shadah, go and bring him for me! Somebody do something!"  
  
"Very well, milord," Shadah turns around and runs off to fetch the High Priest Seth, making his point of not being around the Pharaoh when he was in a rage like this.  
  
Bernarda suddenly drops her book and blinks, not being able to figure out what is going on. Her eyes return to their usual sparkly hazel and she edges away from the pit nervously as she hears the jaws of snapping crocodiles.  
  
"Bernarda, stay away from there!" Mahada cautions her as he grabs the scribe and pulls her further away from the pit.  
  
"I do not desire to lose another of my court to the afterlife today, thank you, Mahado," Atemu says with gratitude to his priest.  
  
Picking up her peacock quill again, Bernarda goes back to translating the wall.  
  
"Can you make out any of it?" Priest Karim wonders.  
  
"Uh... sort of," Bernarda mumbles. "My Pharaoh, do you remember when the Millennium Tauk was put on me?" she asks Atemu, hoping that Akunadin, Mahado and Karim shall not be too interested in this conversation.  
  
"How could I forget your trance at that time?" Atemu wonders.  
  
"And the prophecy which I mentioned then?" Bernarda adds, trying to make her point as she continues writing and happily notices that the symbols that she put down at first were beginning to magically turn into hieroglyphics which she could comprehend.  
  
"The prophecy about two pharaohs in the distant future I suppose?" Atemu asks, urging Bernarda to continue on.  
  
"Yes, it is mentioned here in the walls and I have no idea how it could have come here if I had the vision about a month ago while this was written two years in the past. However, I believe that you should be the one who reads the final translation, nothing in these writings have to do with scribe."  
  
"And without the scribe, the prophecy would not have been told in the first place," Atemu points out. "It was you who wore the Tauk and went under that trance."  
  
"Somehow I have the feeling that the Tauk incident was not Bernarda's only trance," Karim tells Mahado in a silent voice as he notices that the pit that Isis fell through was eerily quiet.  
  
"Oddly enough my friend," Mahada replies, "I have the very same feeling as well."  
  
"It is not my place, great one," Bernarda bows before Atemu and hands over the Millennium Book to Atemu. "I suggest that you read it before the High Priest arrives. He shall not be pleased if he knows!"  
  
/Just as I have predicted,/ Akunadin thinks smugly to himself while the other four Egyptians were busy in conversation in their own ways. /Seth would not have been able to manage this because he is directly involved, though Bernarda can be used in her own ways as well./  
  
"But the High Priest is involved so it is his right to know," Atemu insists. "Much in the same way, you are to deliver this message to both of us back at court!" He returns the Millennium Book to Bernarda's trembling hands and strokes the silver streak in her brown hair affectionately. "I shall not hear of anything else related to this prophecy until you have completely translated it. You have until the next full moon. Use your time wisely for your own good and may Thoth aid you."  
  
"Yet what of Isis in her journey to the afterlife?" Karim asks Atemu. "Her soul must be weighed against Maat's feather of truth before her journey is complete."  
  
"And since you, your Highness have the puzzle, Karim here the scales, Akunadin the eye, myself the ring and so forth, what shall happen to the Tauk now that its chosen bearer has left us?" Mahado questions.  
  
"It brings up the possibility of Isis being able to return from the afterlife once more, that's all and I hope it shall be so," Atemu replies.  
  
"Return from the afterlife? That is not possible!" Bernarda exclaims.  
  
"Well from what I've seen when the Tauk was put on you, the prophecy has something to do with the High Priest and myself, so perhaps Isis could be involved as well," Atemu reasons. "She could be back more than just in due time."  
  
"More than just in due time!" Bernarda says in a horrified tone, darkness swirling around her as she passes out, being caught in the arms of Pharaoh Atemu.  
  
Akunadin just smiles smugly, while Karim and Mahado stare in horror, figuring that there was something about the scribe's visions that needed to be solved...  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: From what research I have done on the Millennium Items, I can only conclude that the strength of the item itself largely depends upon the strength of its bearer. If looked at carefully, it can be found out why Bernarda attempted to "kill off" Isis in her Chapter, though let me warn you that you should think on a bigger scale if you want to find out. (The next chapter blurts out a small part of the reason, but only at the end!) 


	3. A Little Manipulation

CHAPTER 3 A LITTLE MANIPULATION  
  
/Where in the afterlife am I?/ Bernarda Nefertina wonders to herself as she wakes up and finds herself on a balcony full of flowers. She slowly opens up her bright hazel eyes and sees that she is on a soft, fluffy bed and that she is wearing a new, clean robe made out of white linen.  
  
"Bernarda, are you awake?"  
  
She turns her head around as she hears a voice coming from the balcony gate, only to see none other than Pharaoh Atemu himself. Blushing ever so slightly, she gets up and bows before him, hoping that he wouldn't notice the twinkle in her eyes. "My honored Pharaoh, where am I?"  
  
"You are in my personal chambers, and your mind has been in the Shadows for three full days," he replies and casually takes a seat next to the Royal Scribe on the balcony bed.  
  
"Hold on a moment, milord," the scribe replies, every so confused, "I regret to say that I do not understand..."  
  
The Pharaoh looks at her slowly, seeing the slightly puzzled thoughts behind her face and wonders whether she knows that he can sense it. "The last time I saw you in tune with this world was when we were down at the pyramids discussing the prophecy," he answers, deciding that starting from the obvious was the best place to begin.  
  
"The prophecy?" Bernarda says, her mind flooding with the thoughts of what had happened down into the pyramids as quickly as the waterfalls that supplied the Nile with water. "I'd better get to the translation, I've only got half a fortnight 'till the next full moon!" Starting to get a little edgy, she jumps up in her surprise of how much time she had missed out upon.  
  
"Hold on, my Royal Scribe," Atemu tells her calmly, "I have not finished speaking to you, therefore you have no permission to leave."  
  
"Sorry, milord," the scribe answers with shame, blushing again and sitting down on the bed once more.  
  
"You passed out when I spoke of Priestess Isis returning from the afterlife, and shortly afterwards Shadah arrived with the High Priest and Karim. As hard as they tried, Isis shall have to remain in the afterlife for the next three millennia. Oddly enough, Seth said something about her Ka not being able to be caught either, and nobody else seemed to understand that," the Pharaoh explains, knowing that he probably understood the whole scenario no better than his scribe.  
  
"Yes! Priestess Isis is gone! I knew that Ra would be on our side!" Bernarda exclaims happily, forgetting completely that she was not allowed to say anything against the Pharaoh's priests in the first place.  
  
"No, fate went against us," Atemu replies with a sad shake of his head. "With the departure of the Priestess Isis, the power of the Millennium Tauk has diminished and altered the usage of all the other Millennium Items created. Now the High Priest is insisting that the Tauk is his by rightful law and him having more than one Millennium Item can get him to have too much power for his own good."  
  
"By rightful law? It's mine as much as his!" Bernarda says, "Forgive me to interfere, I know it is not my place, but the Gods Seth, Isis, Osiris and Nephthys are all akin as siblings, so the Tauk can be passed on the either him as Seth or myself as Nephthys, since Osiris' Ka has already been sealed as a dragon."  
  
"Your logic is true enough, my friend, yet keep in mind that the male heirs acquire it first in line," Atemu replies, secretly wishing that the Tauk could not be given to either Seth or Bernarda in the first place. "You have your own item to worry about in the meanwhile, do not take it overboard."  
  
"What? Where is it?" Bernarda gasps as she suddenly notices that the Millennium Book and her favorite peacock quill are nowhere in sight. She looks up to the Pharaoh with questing in her eyes and sees that he is also not wearing his puzzle. "Where are our Millennium Items?"  
  
"Relax, relax, I have given them to Shimon Muran, my advisor in hopes of him being able to keep them away from danger," Atemu explains, knowing very well that the Priests would not be too pleased at his decision for this and keeping his fingers crossed that the scribe would have a different reaction.  
  
"Or from the High Priest," Bernarda counters as she plays with a strand of her hair absentmindedly. "But am I not responsible enough to take care of my own Millennium Item?"  
  
"More than just simply 'capable' Bernarda," he replies, taking her hand in his and feeling the slight calluses in it from holding that quill of hers for one hour too long day after day. "I just feared for your safety since you would be probably altered history using the powers of your Millennium Book so that the High Priest would be deprived of all the Millennium Items for Ra knows how long!"  
  
"How...." The scribe begins, and then stammers for a mere moment, trying to find the right word, something that she rarely ever had to do. "How did you know I wanted to do that? And does that plan not limit the powers of the High Priest for the good of all of Egypt?" she blurts out at the end, deciding to give the Pharaoh a piece of her own mind for just once. Being loyal was one thing, but that was not what she was after right now.  
  
/She does have a point of view,/ Atemu thinks to himself /After all, Seth is getting too power hungry for his own good lately and yet if I let Bernarda Nefertina do her own bidding here, will she not end up with the same trouble, it could be in the family.../ Gathering himself together, he figures that a little more explaining would do his scribe no harm at all.  
  
"Have you forgotten so easily that the power of the Millennium Items has been altered? With the puzzle I read into your mind while it was in the Shadows and saw what you were plotting. Your plan seemed wise enough at first, but I had to deprive you of the Millennium Book for the sake of the prophecy."  
  
"For the sake of the prophecy? Why?" Bernarda questions, considering whether everything in this world was related to the prophecy in the Pharaoh's eyes. He really did seem to be more than just a little preoccupied with it.  
  
Atemu rolls his eyes, either scribes had minds of their own or they had to be given instructions written on papyrus in fancy hieroglyphics for them to understand anything. "Because without the Millennium Rod in the High Priest's hands, the prophecy shall not be activated."  
  
/That's it, I've had enough! I'm going to teach this Pharaoh a lesson or two even if it gives me a bad reputation among the court. He thinks that others are below him just because he wears a tiara!/ She stands up defiantly and looks out over the balcony, just for the sake of showing him that he was not the only person to exist in this world. "So what you're trying to tell me here," Bernarda says, having no fear of taking the offensive, "is that Seth can handle his little rod all the way he wants to and yet all the other Items shall be put into the hands of Shimon Muran? In the hands on an advisor? This is blasphemy!"  
  
Atemu shakes his head, seeing that the scribe would go to any lengths to get things her own way. /No wonder, being related by blood to the people she is, it really must run in the family,/ he thinks to himself, but decides to say nothing, she would have to find this out on her own one day. He makes his way to the edge of the balcony to join Bernarda. "In that case, life itself is just a fraud where everyone squabbles for power. The Book shall be returned to you in time, you have my word."  
  
/But when? That is the question.../ Taking a sigh to herself, Bernarda looks wistfully over the balcony. "And so it shall be written, that the High Priest never failed to lose when his wits are matched against those of the greatest Pharaoh!" She says with only the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice. Hopefully he would get the message of what she was trying to tell him.  
  
"I love how you can be so manipulative in my favor. And that's just one of the many reasons as to why I appointed you as my Royal Scribe," Atemu replies, taking a step closer to her, then giving in and kissing her. "The other reasons are for my other purposes..."  
  
/Like this one? Kissing me in hopes of winning my favor? I like him fair enough, yet he cannot use my feelings and romantic impulses just like this! At least he's better than that High Priest, though I do have to admit I like his style so much more as much as I do despise him on the other hand... Why do I even go through these phases in the first place?/ Thoughts go through the Royal Scribe's head as she looks at the Pharaoh romantically and giggles. "Your other purposes, and yet you call me the manipulative one?" She braces herself for another kiss, hoping for it and yet avoiding it at the same time.  
  
"There must have been something manipulative about you because no female has managed to become a scribe in the reins of my ancestors, yet alone the top one until you came along," Atemu tells her, then gives her another kiss.  
  
With her hazel eyes closed, Bernarda remains lost in her thoughts as she exchanged the kiss, wondering whether or not the Pharaoh was planning to use her in any way and if this was just the prologue or if there was really romance between them after all.  
  
Letting go of her waist and slowly stepping away from the kiss, Pharaoh Atemu slowly looks at her, seeing the determination in her eyes so unlike any else's and knowing that she would go to any lengths to achieve what she desired. He takes a bottle of wine from the table and pours two glasses of it, watching the dark red liquid as red as roses flow into the glasses.  
  
"To the power of the Millennium Items as the ages to come!" he exclaims, raising his glass and offering the other one to Bernarda.  
  
"And to the greatest Pharaoh in all of Egypt!" Bernard exclaims, raising her glass.  
  
"My darling, I am the only Pharaoh in Egypt! Ra made it so," he whispers to her, as if he wanted this to be a deep secret between the two of them. "To the powers of Ra!" Atemu then holds up the wine to the sun and drinks it.  
  
Bernarda smiles slightly and pretends to take a sip of the wine, not intending to be overtaken by vile drinks so easily at the age of fifteen.  
  
"Oh I wish this day shall never end, the afterlife can wait!" Atemu says as he finishes his wine and sets the glass on the table once more.  
  
"Then let me wield the powers of the Millennium Book and yourself the Puzzle and the Tauk shall just have to wait. The abilities of the High Priest are insignificant compared to your own for you rule both Upper and Lower Egypt, Seth is the deity of chaos well enough and distant lands as well, but Egypt he shall never hold!" Bernarda tells the Pharaoh, once more putting the slight bit of manipulativeness into her voice.  
  
"So you need the Book to complete the meaning of the prophecy, do you not?" Atemu asks, seeing where she was going.  
  
/Has he fallen into my persuasion so easily?/ Bernarda wonders. /Oh well, time to be direct once more. "Aye, that is what all the manipulation was for in the first place," she says with a wink, then bows formally so that Pharaoh shall not be angry with her for whatever reason he might think to be.  
  
"In that case, you have won the debate and the powers of the Millennium Book are yours to wield once more. Shimon Muran shall return it to you first thing at tomorrow's dawn," Atemu promises, making a note to himself to go and find Shimon the moment his little conversation with his Royal Scribe was over.  
  
"He'd better, otherwise you're one Pharaoh whose subjects are not exactly trustworthy," Bernarda says, placing her hands on her hips to emphasize her point.  
  
"That includes yourself as one of my subjects, Bernarda," Atemu replies with a small laugh. "Farewell now."  
  
"Farewell milord," Bernarda bids the Pharaoh as she bows before him once more and then heads off the Pharaoh's balcony to leave her chambers and go figure out exactly what to do about this whole idea of giving the items to Shimon Muran. /I hope that he'll keep his word. If I had it my way, Egypt would have been a hierarchy dynasties ago!/ With a smug smile, she imagines herself sitting upon the Pharaoh's throne, trying to face the reality that a dream is just a wish.  
  
Meanwhile, the High Priest Seth stands under the balcony where the Pharaoh was kissing the Royal Scribe just moments ago, trying not to laugh at the irony of the whole scenario. /The little meddlesome fool,/ he thinks, playing back the mental image of her faking to sip the wine, /what does she think she can get out of this except her own one-way ticket to missing out on the afterlife with a trip to the Shadow Realm? Yet if she knew that she is my half-sister, and I her half-brother, would she behave differently? Oh it sure it runs in the family, the power is mine, not hers! Pharaoh Atemu gave me orders to keep her heritage hidden from her, how would she react upon knowing that she is Atemu's cousin, not to mention second heir? Once I pass into the afterlife, Ra forbid it, the burden of the Pharaoh shall fall to none other than Bernarda Nefertina, royal scribe, illegitimate daughter of a Greek slave and Priest Akunadin, my own father!/  
  
He laughs at the thought of it all, now that he was out of the Pharaoh's and Scribe's sight, holding up the Rod as if to demonstrate its infinite powers. /Or shall she perhaps have to face the afterlife before me?/ He thinks darkly, the third eye appearing on his forehead. "Mwahahaha! Who is the manipulative one now?"  
  
AUTHOR'S NOTE: ?!?!Who is Who in Ancient Egypt?!?!  
  
Pharaoh Atemu (Puzzle) = Yami Yugi High Priest Seth (Rod) = Seto Kaiba Priest Akunadin (Eye) = Unknown Priest Shada (Ankh) = Shadi Priest Karim (Scales) = Uknown Priest Mahado (Ring) = Dark Magician Priestess Isis (Tauk) = Isis Ishtar Shimon Muran = Grandpa Teanna = Tea Gardner Joseph = Joey Terras = Tristan Bernarda Nefertina (Book) = Gala's Yami (Please note that other characters, whether they be from Yu-Gi-Oh! or just made up ones shall appear as the story continues...) 


	4. Regaining Courage

CHAPTER 4 REGAINING COURAGE

/Shimon Muran! Off all of Ra's creations, giving HIM the Millennium Book! This is complete blasphemy! It's illegal! He used to own the ankh and how he's supposed to get his "second" item?/ Bernarda Nefertina ponders to herself as she sits upon the reed-woven rug in her chamber, stroking the feathers of her pet peacock. Brushing a tear off the tip of her delicate nose, she looks at the painting on walls of her chamber with awe in her eyes whilst her hand went absent-mindedly to stroking the beautiful tail feathers of her peacock once more. Logically enough, this was not the first time that the Royal Scribe of the 18th dynasty of the Pharaohs found herself in this type of situation.

Yes, there had been the time when Bernarda reached an argument with Mahado when they were little so she threw his golden sandals into the Nile. Afterwards Mahado had stolen her emerald bracelet which she supposedly inherited from her mother. Only that time they were little and things were simple, now matters had gotten much more complicated. And yes, Seth had appeared out of nowhere and was made the High Priest – something which Bernarda considered to be a complete outrage. Then again, she never dared to complain about it for holding the position of Royal Scribe at the age of fifteen was plenty enough for her already and she did not intend to lose it. Back then, six or seven years ago when Bernarda was only eight, Atemu nine, Mahado eleven and little Mana seven, they had considered each other friends, playmates, Ra's children who were blassed to walk along the banks of the Nile and have mud fights – only to return home and get scolded by the priests for bringing so much filth into the palace. And now, the tables have apparently turned.

"How times have changed," Bernarda whispers, saying it to nobody in particular. She looks at the picture of the Isis and Osiris tale upon her wall once more and chuckles to herself. Had it really been all these years ago that Isis, Shadah and herself had wanted to act out the tale so they wrapped Atmu in mummification bandages and then Shadah hid him in the palace while Bernarda and Isis frantically searched for him all night only to find out that Mahado took the bandages off the young prince and returned him to his chambers? /Mahado, he has not changed a bit./ And that was as close to the truth as she could have put it. On the other hand, Shadah, Isis and perhaps even Karim even though he was a bit older were so mischevious at times back then, Bernarda easily remembered hanging around with them even though she was at least three years their junior. /Then again, perhaps they liked me because I was able to sneak into temples unnoticed and do whatever they wanted me to do. It really is not my fault that Isis would get caught every single time and I would not!/ As for Seth, well, Bernarda had always considered him to be an exception. And she never knew him as a youngster, so that could be part of the reason.

Yet now that they all held Millennium Items save for Mana who remained a loyal apprentice to Mahado, things had changed too much for Bernarda's likings. Seth and Isis had become as serious as if they were the ones in charge of all of Kehmet and began to view Bernarda as an enemy because she was able to read rituals and trexts of sacred ceremonies as well as any priest and ever re-write them in hieroglyphs. /Is that why I was given the Millennium Book at the mere age of twelve upon having almost completed my schooling as a scribe? Out of all the scribes at court why was a young girl who does not even know of her heritage chosen to bear one of the sacred items when the rest of them all went to the Pharaoh and his most trusted priests?/ The Royal Scribe found this very strange, she had not been able to pull out any logic behind her being the owner of the Millennium Book besides her uncanny ability to understand and interpret strange writings. Not like it was in the family or anything, she had absolutely no idea that she was Akunadin's daughter, Seth's half-sister and cousins with the Pharaoh and most of his priests through a long, complicated bloodline. All in all, Bernarda was completely clueless that she was of royal blood, or partically of it at elast. On the other hand, Bernarda did know that Mahado, Isis and Karim had all inherited their Millennium Items from their parents, so where did she get her Book from?

Wanting to find out the answer, the scribe's hands twiddle with one another as she looks around her chambers for the Millennium Book, yet it was nowhere within her sight. "Holy Ra! I have to go and retrieve it from Shimon Muran!" she exclaims, snapping out of her thoughts and suddenly standing up, startling her pet peacock and sending it running to the opposite end of the room.

"Yet how do I retrieve it from him?" Feeling down in the depths, she places her head in her hands and tries to prevent tears from flowing across her face, yet she could not. Few people, more likely none knew her true feelings about her life. Yes, at first glance Bernarda Nefertina appeared to be rather sarcastic yet charming and even flirtatious in her style and sense of humor, it was nothing like the playful energy which Mana never seemed to run out of but a cold case covering a warm heart which could easily be shattered once the shell had been broken.

/My heart, whom does it belong to?/ Stroking her fingers through her hair and still finding them caught in the tangles which had been there since the mud fight with Seth, Bernarda takes up her hairbrush and starts to pull it across her straight brown hair with a silver streak which she had no idea how it came to her hair. Oddly enough Bernarda's hair had a weird habit of acquiring blond highlights in the sun and therefore over the years of living under the hot Egyptian sun it had gone from a dark chocolate brown to a golden brown with some bits slightly lighter than others. That was one more thing that bothered her, why would her hair go lighter yet the other people she knew did not have that problem? /Then again,/ she thought with a sigh /I have been told off time and time again for paying attention to useless details. A scribe's flaw, perhaps./ Finishing with brushing out her hair, Bernarda proceeds ahead with the make-up and jewelry, after all, if she was about to go and talk to Shimon Muran about the Millennium Book and any other related matter, she was also determined to make herself look presentable.

Taking a deep breath as she takes one last look at herself, Bernarda closes the door of her chamber as she exits. Wincing upon hearing the door close so loudly, Bernarda suddenly realizes that the hallway was eerily quiet, the guards were completely motionless and the scribe could have sworn that she could hear a grain of sand be blown across these surroundings. True enough, it was the hottest part of the day now and most of Pharaoh Atemu's subjects were in their homes or fields.

Quietly creeping around the corner of the hallway, Bernarda tiptoes down the staircase and makes her way through a maze-like structure of walls until she reaches the throne room. Before entering, she would have to get approval from the guards so the scribe presumed it was a wise idea to observe the situation beforehand. As usual, the doors were left open at this time of the day because the priests believed that nobody would come in at this time of the day in the first place. A commoner had no right to enter, and those of the palace entered only when they dared.

/And apparently, the priests are mistaken as far as this scribe is concerned,/ she thinks with a mischievous smirk as she hides her svelte form behind a giant stone obelisk and looks over the situation. As usual, Shimon Muran was sitting on the chair next to the Pharaoh, being the Grand Vizier for well over three decades. The priests loitered about in the nearby area, Mahado sitting in his favorite chair, Karim and Shadah busy in a conversation and the elder Priest Akunadin as well as Seth were both apparently in deep thought, something easily given away by the furrow in the brow of the Millennium Eye's holder and how Seth's hands anxiously twirled the Rod at random moments. /Not too different from how I play with my peacock quill when I'm nervous./ Bernarda admits to herself with a nervous gulp, wishing she had brought her quill with her so she could have something to hold onto. Having a feel for the scenario now, Bernarda leaves her hiding spot from behind the obelisk and approaches the palace guards.

"Half right there!" the first one exclaims, raising his spear in the air.

"Have a good reason to get executed before the Pharaoh?" the second one demands.

/Gosh! Pity Joseph is not the one on duty today/ Bernarda ponders, having no idea how she was going to get past these two muscular figures. Her usual resort in the past had been to forge a fake invitation from the priests in her Millennium Book and use her item's power into brainwashing the guards into thinking that it was all authentic. The guards had never bothered in the past to check with the priests so Bernarda's manipulative little trick had stayed safe, though the scribe would not even dare to imagine what the Millennium Scales would have done to her very soul if her secret was let lose.

"I have come to have a talk with Shimon Muran," Bernarda says, looking both guards straight in the eye. "I was inforemed by the Pharaoh that he has something which rightfully belongs to me." Having said that, Bernarda keeps her fingers crossed behind her back while holding her breath. After all, the scribe had been more than just truthful,, her only guilt was in wording it so that Shimon Muran appeared to be the one to blame. Yet as a scribe, Bernarda had had more than just her fair deal of experience in manipulating words, especially to the usage of either her or the one who would grant her payment when her task was completed.

"The only thing that rightfully belongs to you now is a ceremony where your soul shall be pulled out of your guts!" the first one roars, menacingly bringing the spear closer to Bernarda.

Edgily, the scribe takes a step back as the spear is brought closer to the middle of her throat. Panicking deep down inside and yet refusing to show it, Bernarda realized that it was time to go to the bottom of the scenario by fighting, as much as she hated the very thought of doing it.

"Whatever it is that rightfully belongs to me," she manages to utter in a rather frustrated tone, "You can be kind enough to add that spear of yours to the list!" Having said that, Bernarda fakes an attempt to run away in the other direction, only to pivot around on her right foot and grab the dull end of the spear with her hands.

"What in the name of Ra are you doing?" the second guard demands, grabbing the back of Bernarda's robes and yanking them so hard that the scribe had no choice but to release her grip on the other guard's spear and scream helplessly as she went flying backwards into the wall, crashing into a humungous terracotta clay pot.

With a loud crash and throbbing aches all over her body, Bernarda slowly tries to stand up to face the guards once more, though her arms give way once she noticed that there was a deep cut flowing dark, velvety blood on her lower left leg. She tries to cut the flow off with her hands, yet the red liquid to fall out from where the clay pot had cut her when she was smashed against it.

Slowly she begins to become lightheaded due to the loss of blood in her system and everything around her begins to spin in circles. Not being able to sustain the hurt for a moment longer, her mind goes blank as a faint aura begins to glow around her body and chaos within her very being...

"Huh?" the second guard blurts out in astonishment, dropping his spear to the floor in surprise. His colleague just stares blankly in mock horror, not having the experience which priests had in such situations.

Bernarda Nefertina remains passed out on the floor, mind idle as the grave, her magenta aura swirling in mists as the Sorceress of Chaos starts to take shape...


End file.
